Upon resumption at the start of the year, as part of the approved 2025 work plan, the Centre expanded the provision of the Green Energy financing and Agricultural Loan products, as well as an upward review of the ceiling for its Solar Loan product.
The Green Energy product was first introduced in October 2019 to finance mid-sized renewable and energy efficient systems for households and businesses, with a maximum loan amount of NGN10 million. In this initial phase, the loan was administered from the Centre’s Head Office, managed by the Special Projects team. Over the past five years, the Centre has disbursed over NGN700 million, financing more than 300 businesses and households.
To achieve its goal to contribute to sustainable environmental outcomes, the Centre has now extended the Green Energy financing product across all 580 branches in 32 states of the federation and the FCT. The goal is to finance up to NGN5 billion in renewable energy projects, enhancing clean energy sufficiency for at least 1,000 businesses and homes in 2025.
Concurrently, the Centre also raised the ceiling of its Solar loan from NGN200,000 to NGN300,000 in response to sustained client demand and the impact of inflation on solar-powered device prices. The Solar Loan, which was developed in August 2017 as part of the Centre’s partnership with the IFC under the Lighting Africa Programme, the Solar Loan was initially designed to provide low-income households with sub-10W solar-powered devices, with a maximum loan amount of NGN20,000 for basic lighting. This initiative aimed to replace hazardous locally made lanterns. Since its inception, the product has expanded significantly, with a total of NGN3.4 billion disbursed, financing 100,995 solar-powered devices in homes across the country.
In 2024, the Centre launched the Agricultural Loan, following a technical assistance from GIZ. After a six-month pilot phase in July 2024 across 55 branches, the Centre aims to scale the product to 124 additional branches in 2025. This expansion is intended to increase support for farmers and value chain players, contributing to household food security across the country.